Jorna Leenheer

Senior Lecturer Department of Marketing, Academic Director IBA (as of Sep 2018) Jorna Leenheer was appointed as a Senior Lecturer at the Marketing Department in April. She will succeed Vincent Wiegerinck as Academic Director of the Bachelor’s program of International Business Administration in September 2018.

Jorna has a long-running affiliation with TiSEM. She obtained her MSc degree in Economics (1999) and PhD degree in Marketing (2004) at Tilburg University. In the past ten years, Jorna has been active predominantly in applied research and was affiliated with CentERdata among other institutions. Jorna has strengthened her ties with the Marketing Department again since 2015 by supervising Master’s thesis students.

"What appeals to me in particular is the personal contact with students."

What does your job involve?

My core tasks are educational. I will be teaching the first-year introductory courses in the Bachelors of IBA, BE, and EBE. As part of these courses, I want to introduce students to the research that is being conducted within the Marketing Department. In addition, I will supervise students writing their thesis. From September 1, I will also be the Academic Director of the IBA Bachelor’s program.

What is your main motivation?

Although I conducted applied and other research in my previous jobs, I have always enjoyed teaching. So for me, this position at TiSEM is a perfect opportunity to focus on this other passion of mine. What appeals to me in particular is the personal contact with students. I feel that I can really make a difference in this work. That really makes me enthusiastic. Furthermore, I find working in an academic setting very inspiring.

Who is your role model?

To tell you the truth, I do not really have one particular role model. Different people inspire me or have inspired over the years. I see various qualities in the people around me, and try to emulate the aspects that appeal to me.